President William Ruto has once again slammed his critics for referring him to a tourist due to his frequent international travels.
During the launch Lipton Tea Innovation and Technology Academy at State House, the head of state proudly said that the project is as a result of a trip he took to Netherlands last year.
He added that the project has proved that his trips are not just vacations but are beneficial to the country.
“I want to thank the Lipton fraternity for helping me answer some of my critics. Some people ask me what did you go and do in Netherlands, today you have helped me to answer those people.
“There are people who think I came to the Netherlands as a tourist, now they know that I spent very good quality time and today we have a 500 million USD academy supporting our entire tea industry,” Ruto said.
The Kshs73 billion academy was established last year by the Kenyan government in collaboration with a global tea company known as Lipton Teas and fusions. This will see Kenya produce tea while Lipton would be in charge of exporting it to foreign markets.
The academy, which will be based in Kabianga University, will also work with Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) on research and farmers training, all aimed at boosting tea industry.
The president further assured farmers that they would earn more now that focus is on providing quality tea rather than quantity.
“We have an opportunity to ensure that we produce tea in a way that most earnings go to our farmers by making sure that they produce sustainably, good quality and which is environmentally sensitive,” Ruto said.
